


Let's Hurt Tonight

by RenegadeDM



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25866001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenegadeDM/pseuds/RenegadeDM
Summary: Summaries are hard. Songfic from OneRepublic "Let's Hurt Tonight"...Popped into my head last night and wouldn't leave. Main topics...Keith, Lance and the reader are all mated, heat cycle shows up while Keith is off on a mission with the Blade. Reader isn't playing well with others...Note: Edited to fix things that annoyed me and provide more depth
Relationships: Keith (Voltron)/Reader, Keith/Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)/Reader, Lance (Voltron)/Reader
Kudos: 20





	Let's Hurt Tonight

Keith had barely been planet-side for ten minutes before his communicator was chiming frantically. A bone-weary groan tore from his throat and for a moment, he considered trying to drown himself in the shower, palms flat against the wall and head hanging under the spray.

A litany of creative Galran curses poured out of his mouth when the communicator chirped again. Keith slapped at the shower control and ripped a towel off the rack, notching it tightly around his hips before answering the call. "What?!" he snarled, surprising himself with the ferocity in his voice. Maybe Lance was right...maybe he did need a vacation. Fuck.

Kolivan's voice came through the speaker, the tinny nature of the connection not doing enough to disguise the faint amusement lacing his words. "Don't get comfortable...you've been summoned to the Castle of Lions by your mate."

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Keith snagged his toothbrush and squirted gel onto it. "Kolivan, you're gonna need to be more specific. I have two."

The leader of the Blade of Marmora actually chuckled. "The Blue Paladin said, and I quote, 'Hurry the fuck home, Mullet. You're needed."

Spitting out a mouthfull of minty suds, Keith gripped the sides of the sink and huffed out a sigh. "How far away are they?"

"Coordinates are already loaded into a fighter," Kolivan replied. "It'll take you about 5 vargas to get there, enough time for a nap."

"Thank fuck for that," Keith grumbled wearily, raking his hands through his water-logged mop of hair. It hung to mid-back now and was rarely loose. "Can you signal the castleship and let them know that I'll be enroute in the next 30 doboshes or so?"

"It will be done. Don't worry about packing, your mother took the liberty of putting together a bag for you already. Wish them well for us, safe travels." The communicator clicked off.

Once Keith cleared atmosphere and kicked on the jets, he keyed in Lance's personal comm code. The other man didn't leave him waiting long, popping up on the vid screen within a few ticks.

"Shit, Keith...you look like hell!"

Keith's jaw dropped at the same time as his middle finger popped up. "Fuck you, too, buddy. I can just turn around now..."

Lance snorted, the background shifting dramatically as he flopped backwards onto a couch. "Empty threats, my dude. Empty threats. Seriously though, you ok?"

Leaning his head back against the headrest, Keith's violet eyes drifted shut. "Bone-tired...but otherwise, fine. What's so important that I barely got showered before Kolivan politely shoved me out the door?"

It was the silence that brought Keith’s head back off the rest, his eyes focusing on Lance. Lance appeared to be chewing on the inside of his cheek, carefully avoiding the camera on the communicator while he mulled over his answer. Keith’s stomach lurched uncomfortably and he leaned closer to the camera.

“Lance.”

Silence.

“ _Lance.”_ Keith dropped the timbre of his voice, letting a growl lace through his mate’s name.

“Mierde,” Lance grumbled, slipping a hand under his head and finally facing the camera. “Y/N’s nesting, like legitimately nesting. All the signs of pre-heat are there, but she’s not handling it normally. She’s combative, overly aggressive.”

Keith snorted; he couldn’t help it, the laughter bubbled out before he could rein it in. Lance’s head snapped up, his blue eyes narrowed.

“You think it’s funny?” Lance sat up in a flurry of movement, yanking his shirt off in one fluid movement that never failed to send a frisson of heat down Keith’s spine. “Take a look, asshat.” Lance turned around, revealing four deep grooves that crawled from the nape of his neck to the divots on his lower back. “Kills the mood REAL quick.”

Sucking a harsh breath in through his teeth, Keith winced. “Ouch. So she’s not exactly pliable this time around?”

It was Lance’s turn to snort while he tugged his tshirt back on. “At the moment, the only people safe near her are Pidge and Hunk. Shiro tried to check on her and she about took his arm off.”

“Fuck me,” Keith groaned, tucking his knees up and resting his chin on them. “Well…the devil you know, right?”

_When, when we came home_

_Worn to the bones_

_I told myself, "this could get rough"_

The Blade transport slipped smoothly into the Castle's hangar bay. Keith could feel Black and Red elsewhere. Red's welcoming rumble felt like a streak of heat caressing his mind, whereas Black was more subdued, a simple flash of affection and welcoming. But the warm curl that snuggled its way through their bond brought Keith's head around to the hangar bay door, his eyes landing immediately on Lance. 

The tall, handsome man lifted a hand and waved, the distance not quite enough to hide the wide grin stretching his face. Keith snagged the bag he'd tucked behind the pilot's seat and climbed his way out of the craft, slowly opening himself up to their mated bond as he went. Lance was, and had always been, a wave of calming peace, the eye of the storm. Keith wrapped himself up in that wave as he walked towards Lance, feeling his presence soothe his tattered nerves. 

"Welcome home, samurai," Lance pulled him into a tight hug. Keith poured himself into Lance's grip, finally putting together how much he'd missed his mates while he'd been away. 

"Hey, sharpshooter," he whispered into Lance's ear, hands gripping his shoulders from behind.

They stood like that for a few moments, using the close contact to recalibrate. Even though it hadn't been long, only a phoebe or two since Keith had been called away on Blade duty, it was long enough. 

Your presence in the bond was muted, muffled behind pulses of anger, frustration and the dark tinge of fear. Keith winced as you flickered closer, touched on both of them, and pulled away into the shadows. Message sent. 

"I see what you mean," he muttered, dropping a kiss on Lance's waiting mouth and pulling him toward the door. "She's..."

"Yup." Lance clipped the hard sound off sharply. "It's not me she needs right now..."

_And when, when I was off, which happened a lot_

_You came to me and said, "that's enough"_

The closer they got to their shared quarters, to you, the more anger flared through the bond, eating away at it. By the time they were at the door, flaring emotions were pulsing at them in waves. Lance winced.

"I don't envy you walking in there," he murmured, a hint of concern tinging his voice. "She wasn't nearly this upset yesterday when-" he trailed off and motioned toward his back. 

Keith took a deep, steadying breath, starting the mental descent into the inner place where most of his deeper Galra instincts lived. Handing Lance his bag, Keith knelt to unbuckle his boots, toeing them off. The fingerless gloves were next, tucked carefully into the boots. His shirt followed immediately after, caught by Lance's face, who sputtered adorably and flipped Keith off. Smirking in response, Keith pulled his hair up into a messy bun, securing it with an elastic. The last thing he needed was to give you a ready-made leash.

"Wish me luck," Keith's voice had already dropped in register, the hints of a rumble curling through it. 

Lance shivered in spite of himself. "You're not going to need it. Just watch the claws."

_Oh I know that this love is pain_

_But we can't cut it from out these veins, no_

_So I'll hit the lights and you lock the doors_

_We ain't leaving this room 'til we bust the mold_

Your shared quarters were dark and quiet. Far too quiet. He could feel you through the bond, your proximity lighting off like a beacon. But physically, you may as well have been a galaxy away for as far as you were from him. If he strained his ears, he could hear you, faintly snarling off in the direction of the bed/nest. 

"Get. Out." Your voice was thin and reedy, but utterly furious. Any thoughts Keith may have had of calming you through the bond got drop-kicked out the airlock when he heard you speak. 

Readying himself for the inevitable consequences of what he was about to do, Keith sighed. "Nah. If you're that pissed at me, come and get me."

Keith side-stepped your first strike, but not by much. Your claws missed his ear by half an inch, close enough that he could snap a hand up and curl it tightly onto your wrist. From there, he could easily snag your other wrist as you snarled and struck out again, spinning you around and pinning your wrists together in one of his hands. His free hand tangled in the hair at the base of your skull, clamping down hard and yanking your neck backwards.

The harsh treatment broke through the first wave of bloodthirsty haze, pulling a needy whine from your throat.

Keith’s fingers tightened further in your hair, freezing you in place against him. You could feel his chest heaving, heat pouring off him and pulling you down. “I hear you,” he growled, voice deepening and taking on that dominating thrum that you craved. Nosing gently behind your ear, Keith held you in place and breathed, waiting for your panting breaths to ease. “ _Behave,”_ he whispered, feeling the shudder work its way from your head to your toes.

"Fuck off," you panted, straining against his punishing grip and sobbing when it didn't release. 

Keith laughed harshly, his breath fluttering the baby hairs at your ear. "No."

A scream tore itself violently from you as you tried to wrench yourself out of his grasp, succeeding only in him sinking to the floor and curling a leg over each of yours. In a split second, his feet were planted firmly on the floor between your legs, keeping you from getting any traction at all.

Your body tensed once, then twice, trying desperately to throw him off of you. The third time you gathered your remaining strength, you felt his breath waft over the claiming bite on the junction of your neck and shoulder, and you whimpered, caught between warring desires to collapse into him but also rip him apart. 

All the fight drained from you when his lips pressed against the scar, your body going limp against his. This time, the sobs were different, heart-wrenching and sad instead of furious. Keith breathed a deep sigh of relief and turned you into his chest, massaging your scalp gently to soothe the tortured nerves. He thumped his other hand twice on the door, secure in the knowledge that Lance would know what that meant.

_Don't walk away, don't roll your eyes_

_They say love is pain, well darling, let's hurt tonight_

Hours later, with Lance collapsed against your back fast asleep, you summoned enough energy to lift your head from its pillow on Keith’s chest. He grumbled underneath you, a hand coming up off of Lance’s back in a feeble attempt to push your head back down.

“Cut it out,” you nipped at his fingers gently. “I actually want to talk to you.”

_When, when you came home_

_Worn to the bones_

_I told myself, "this could be rough"_

Keith huffed heavily, his other hand scrubbing at his face before flopping back down on the twisted sheets. “Uh huh…”

The moment upon you, and inexplicably, you felt shy. Naked in bed, with both your mates, you wanted to curl up under the mess of blankets and just disappear. The anxiety pushed a subtle change in your scent and Keith’s eyes flickered open, an eyebrow raised. For once, he didn’t push, just laid there and watched you patiently.

_Oh, I know you're feeling insane_

_Tell me something that I can explain, oh_

“Thanks for getting here in time…” you said, so quietly that he had to strain to hear it. "I'm sorry I let it get so bad." 

_I'll hit the lights and you lock the doors_

_Tell me all of the things that you couldn't before_

_Don't walk away, don't roll your eyes_

_They say love is pain, well darling, let's hurt tonight_

_If this love is pain, well darling, let's hurt, oh tonight_

Keith blinked at you, searching out your grey eyes in the dimly lit bedroom. He took a few moments to find the right words, stroking a thumb along your cheek. "If it helps," he said softly, "I've been an insufferable ass for the last movement or so. Pretty sure the other Blades were looking for any excuse to send me back home." He got quiet again. "I guess that means we should probably think about settling down, huh." 

_So you hit the lights and I'll lock the doors_

_Let's say all of the things that we couldn't before_

_Won't walk away, won't roll my eyes_

_They say love is pain, well darling, let's hurt tonight_

_If this love is pain, then honey let's love tonight_


End file.
